Plant Nutrition. in Cultivation This Plant Picks up a Dark - Calcium and Red Diffusion
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Bromeliaceae VOLUME XLIV - No. 5 - Sept/Oct 2010 The Bromeliad Society of Queensland Inc. P. O. Box 565, Fortitude Valley Queensland, Australia 4006, Home Page www.bromsqueensland.com OFFICERS PRESIDENT Olive Trevor (07) 3351 1203 VICE PRESIDENT Jennifer Coulthard (07) 33532773 SECRETARY Chris Coulthard (07) 33532773 TREASURER Glenn Bernoth (07) 4661 3634 COMMITTEE Pamela Butler, Fred Thomson Bruce Dunstan, Barry Kable MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Roy Pugh (07) 3263 5057 LIBRARIAN David Rees SHOW ORGANISER Bob Cross PUBLICITY OFFICER John Olsen BROMELIACEAE EDITOR Ross Stenhouse Editors Email Address: [email protected] Contents TILLANDSIA ‘SILVER C ANDELABRA ’ ..........................................................................................3 THE BSQ W EB S ITE ................................................................................................................6 PLANT NUTRITION . - CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUM , T HE NEGLECTED NUTRIENTS . ..........................6 AECHMEA ‘FRECA ROSEA ’ .......................................................................................................9 ALCANTAREAS IN AUSTRALIA ..................................................................................................11 CALENDAR OF EVENTS ...........................................................................................................27 From the Editor: Well I have finally got it finished and you have finally received yet another copy of Bromeliaceae. I can only apologise for the delay, there have been valid reasons. I intend to try and get the next edition (the Nov-Dec edition) out within the next month and then work on the edition after that and hopfully get that out at the end of March - that’s quite a workload for a voluntary position! Front Cover: Guzmania‘ Odette ’ photo by Ross Stenhouse Rear Cover : Guzmania ‘ Loja’ bra photo by Ross Stenhouse The Bromeliad Society of Queensland Inc. gives permission to all Bromeliad Societies to reprint articles in their journals provided proper acknowledgement is given to the original author and the Bromeliaceae, and no contrary direction is published in Bromeliaceae. This permission does not apply to any other person or organisation without the prior permission of the author. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual contributor and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Bromeliad Society of Queensland or of the Editor Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the information in their articles. Bromeliaceae 2 Sept/Oct 2010 and covered over with bracts; the lowermost Tillandsia ‘Silver bracts are leaf-like, the upper ones quickly becoming shorter to about 4 cm long and Candelabra’ oblong, keeps the colour of the leaves until by Derek Butcher 9/2010. the top which is brownish on the outside; they nestle narrowly on the scape, however the This started about 10 years ago when acuminate tip is spreading giving the stem a Mick Romanowski talked about this vari- quite rough look. The bracts are very dense egated Tillandsia viridiflora he had that at the lower half and imbricate, then they flowered with a branched inflorescence and move apart more, so that the scape remains not like the single inflorescence of his ‘nor- uncovered to the node, at the same time they mal’ T. viridiflora. I assured him not to worry become thinner and lanceolate; the uppermost because the description in Smith & Downs are appressed to the stem. said the inflorescence could be either simple The branches, with our plant three at or branched. number, are almost at right angles where they In 2007 I heard rumblings from Renate branch off, bending soon upward, shorter Ehlers about this branched plant she had than the top spike, always simple and with found which seemed to be a species in its a primary bract similar to the scape bracts own right and she even got the Mexicans to but somewhat wider, and solidly appressed agree that it was the long lost T. macropetala to the branch. and that the name should be resurrected from The flowers are densely distichously synonymity under T. viridiflora . This had me arranged on the branches, but clearly move checking the old records and this is what I apart after anthesis. The floral bracts are simi - came up with: lar to the scape bracts, only they are rounder and a little bigger than these; the lowermost “Tillandsia macropetala Wawra, Wien- are sterile. The flowers are sessile, which with er III. Gart. 12: 241, Fig. 50. 1887. Type. Vi- the floral bract are joined on a short stalk. enna Hortus ex E. Morren s n (n v). Identified The calyx is a rounded stem and exactly by description and illustration. as long as the bract but appears about as long Translated by Butcher as the exserted stem. Sepals are pale green, A magnificent plant 1½ metres high, only at the outer tip are some brownish and formed by a rosette of leaves, around the base hardly marked. of the shaft virtually 1 metre in diameter; its The pale yellow petals overhang (to massive, wide pale red sheaths unite in an my knowledge) those of all other Tillandsias oval bulb; its lanceolate leaf blades spreading and Vrieseas, they become 12 cm long; the in a dainty bow, as you look downwards; they lower ones are smaller, in the calyx half they taper to a fine tip, a lively green, matt, both are very narrow and the edges are imbricate, sides about the same colour and with faint and form with the sepals a spiralling tube; darker stains and markings. The innermost the upper larger half is similarly wider so leaves erect, are smaller and narrower, and that they become fully 2 cm wide below the merge into the scape bracts above. rounded off tip. The petals are far apart and The Inflorescence is very long and, after anthesis hang laxly downwards; they are very poorly branched Panicle; the Panicle delicate and, (in subdued light) many nerved scape is strictly erect, as thick as your thumb the nerves run Bromeliaceae 3 Sept/Oct 2010 Bromeliaceae 4 Sept/Oct 2010 parallel, bending downwards towards until later. I can only say that so far I can - and disappearing near the petal edge, without not decide categorically that honey-scales anastomosis. Nectaries missing at the base. constitute a Vriesea. Bentham and Hoocker The filaments straight, prominent, quite (gene.) admittedly put no big weight on the free, and about 2 cm longer than the corolla. same and unify both genera under Tillandsia. The anthers are long, very narrow some over The entirely different look of that to Vriesea 1cm, (pollen gold-yellow), blunt at both ends, does not appear to justify such an amalgama- attached in its lower third, then split; lying tion in the manner paid to Tillandsia without near the fold. dividing a natural group. It remains to be The oblong smooth, with a slimy mass seen whether we look for a new difference, of outer coating Ovary, tapering into the whether in the flower or fruit, to take notice threadlike style above. This is stronger than of the vegetative organs, incidentally where the filaments, and the tips are bent down- I had very little material to work with - the wards, blunt triangular and exceeding the examination could be planned only on one filament by about 2 cm, therefore 16 cm long. single, wilted flower - that maybe tiny scales The leaflike wide stigma lobes are lanceolate, are the answer.” blunt, green and spiral. The linear placenta So we now know what the non-vari- have many rows, narrow short stemmed, of egated form looks like and this is the one short stringed seeds. that will eventually bepublished because the Habitat: Mexico. writers are only interested in this plant found The illustration of this plant (larger in in the wild. Remember too that when Reed real life), with a leaf and a flower came to me S. Beaman and Walter S. Judd reviewed the from Liege from my unforgettable friend, the species in Brittonia 48(1): 1-19. 1996 no highly regarded botanical and particularly Bromeliaceae expert Professor Morren, a few days after his passing away. Morren seems to have shown great interest in the solution to the problem as to whether this was a new species because of its unique vegetative organs; it was not for him to experience the development of the flower. The expectation of Morren’s was Suppliers of fine amply justified. The plant proved to be a new species, which is mainly based on the very tissue-cultured bromeliads long petals from the other Tillandsias (and Vrieseas). But it shows another peculiarity; [email protected] our plant has completely the habit of a Vriesea www.plantbiotech.com.au but lacks the honey-scales at the base of the petals. The existence of these scales in Vriesea Phone (07) 5471 6036 forms the only decisive, because the flower Postal Address: 7 Thougla Place, is different to Tillandsia; for the time being Buderim QLD 4556 I believe this is a new species and name it Lab: 99 West Coolum Road, Tillandsia macropetala because of its very Mount Coolum QLD 4573 long petals, after deciding to leave the proof as to whether it was a Vriesea or Tillandsia Bromeliaceae 5 Sept/Oct 2010 mention was made of the variegated variety. – she is good at these sorts of things – and we Taxonomists try to stay clear of variegated came up with ‘Silver Candelabra’. plants because they rarely reproduce in the Just one word of warning. Even though wild from seed. Their reproduction is asexual the plant has been in Australia say over 30 and there is no one in the wild to move offsets years the adventitious offsets you can expect around. Only in cultivation does variegation at the base are many and varied. It is sug - get selected from offsets, improved on, and gested that you only select the variegated circulated. ones. If you don’t then you will have to call What about the T. viridiflora var. vari- them ‘Silver Candelabra Novar’ - in other egata which was described as: words No variegation!! but if grown on they Tillandsia viridiflora (Beer) Baker, are just as likely to produce some variegated var.